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Added
11-25-17

2017 Appeal
Decision - People v. Damon

This
case is an example of a speed trap defense to a speeding
ticket.

The defendant was
doing 50 in a 35 zone, in the City of Santa Monica
(Los Angeles County).

The surveyed 85th was 41 or 42. The City's
engineer chose to post the street as a 35, and
wrote that the lowered speed was justified by fact
that the street was in a "residential area."

In the initial trial, and again in his appeal, the
defendant argued that the residential nature of
the area was something that would be readily
apparent to a driver (he got the officer to
testify to that) and thus could not be used as
justification for the lowering of a speed limit.

A three judge panel in the Appellate Division of
the Los Angeles Superior Court agreed with the
defendant, and reversed the lower court's
decision.

This decision has not been published, so cannot
be cited as precedent in other cases, except in Los Angeles
County. The general issue of which decisions get
published, and which don't, is under study. See nonpublication.com
for more information.